Jenny, the Owner of "Lyme Thriving", Discusses the Methods She Used to Get into Remission from Chronic Lyme and How Changing Her Perspective of Her Condition Helped Develop Part of the Foundation that Would Serve as Her Road to Recovery

May 19, 2013

Chris:  Jenny,  I appreciate you taking the time to perform this interview with me!

Jenny:  Thanks so much or doing this and bringing awareness to the issues of Lyme disease.

Chris:  So the question we all have on our minds is how did you get into remission from chronic Lyme Disease?  What constituted your treatment protocol?

Jenny:  I treated naturally since I am allergic to so many antibiotics. My treatment had a foundation of clean diet. I ate about 85% raw vegan and 15% 'whatever I wanted'. I also juiced and drank copious amounts of lemon water. Three times a day I did some sort of detox. I had about 5 different methods that I rotated, although each day always included a coffee enema. I was under the care of a naturopath who tested me from time to time to see where my body was still out of balance, and then depending on the results, he prescribed particular supplements to address what was out of balance.  Supplements were a combination of vitamins, minerals, herbs and enzymes. In addition to that I went for regular chiropractic care, bio-resonance treatments, and energy. And then there were the hours every day when I just lay staring at the ceiling and contemplated life, my choices, my beliefs and my thoughts, and so I would say that the internal soul-searching equaled the effort of addressing my physiological body.

Chris:  Tell me a little bit about yourself and your story.  Where did the fight with Lyme Disease begin?

Jenny:  I tested positive for Lyme about 12 or so years ago, after feeling under the weather with fatigue and joint pain for about a year. I was treated with antibiotics but I continued to get sicker and sicker and then started reacting to each new medication. After a couple of months on IV Rocephin I decided I'd had enough because in my heart of hearts I felt like I was doing more damage than good. I began juicing to rid my body of all the pharmaceuticals. After a couple of months I was almost back to normal.  I had a number of years of feeling perfectly healthy and then I started having recurring flareups of all the symptoms, but they got worse each round. 

I treated with bio-resonance and herbals each time, would feel pretty good after about 6 or 8 months, and then start relapsing again. In summer of 2010 I was bitten by a tick and tested positive for Ehrlichia as well, but I felt well. A couple of months later I became extremely ill, and this time I was so ill I felt sure I was dying. I had debilitating fatigue, severe pain, cognitive issues, and suicidal depression. I figured that since I kept relapsing that I was missing a 'lesson', so in that last and sickest year I really went on an inward journey while I took care of my body.  It was the year I was the sickest, forgave the most, let go of lots of beliefs, and woke up and realized the truth of who we truly are...the oneness, the love. It was a transformational experience that altered my life in ways I could never have imagined.  By January 2012 I was vibrantly well. In the past year and 4 months I have felt really ill for about 10 days.

Chris:  You mentioned that your worst year of Lyme Disease was your last.  Would you care to elaborate upon this statement?  What aspects about Lyme Disease during your last year made it the worst?

Jenny:  The worst aspects - feeling like I was dying. I'm not sure how to articulate that any other way. I would go to be not knowing that I would wake up the next morning. That was tough, but the toughest was the suicidal depression. It's one thing to feel extremely ill and wish you could be well, but it's a whole different thing to feel completely ill and not care anymore, to wake up and cry because you have woken up and to experience every minute like it is an hour long. That was the toughest part by far.

Chris:  Like nearly everyone who contracts chronic Lyme Disease, you refused to accept the debilitating state your body was becoming at first.  After some time though. you forfeited the resistance effort and welcomed acceptance.  And in doing so, you found a "peace" that you speak of with great sincerity.  How did this "peace" serve as the foundation for what would become your healing campaign?

Jenny:  There was a particular moment when I was just exhausted, too exhausted to try to be well, to exhausted to try to figure out what to do next or to research any more protocols, and I just stopped everything and lay down. In essence I stopped wishing for the wellness of the past (that no longer existed) and for wellness in the future (that didn't exist), and so with no thoughts lost in past or future, I became fully present to myself, just where I was. And I became quiet. In that quiet of nothingness, I experienced the richness that is life, the wonder that is my Self, the Oneness that we are. I became present to being perfect, whole and complete, just as I was, even though my physical body was challenged. At the same time I saw everyone else the same way, not as broken sick people, but beautiful beings of wholeness, who just like I had been, were identifying with that which they are not, and suffering as a result. I still had a long journey back to feeling well, but I knew that even if I didn't get well, I would have this experience of complete fulfillment regardless of my health...and it was so peaceful.  

The Lyme community in general seems to be struggling along focused solely on the physical aspect of illness, focused on outside sources to provide answers, but I experienced the true power of who we are and thought, wow...what if everyone had an opportunity to just consider looking at themselves from a new perspective?  What if they discovered the wonder of who they truly are? What if they shift from being victims of an illness to empowered by the power of their own love and wisdom to face their circumstances from a place of love? More than we can ever want is fully alive within us. What if we use illness as an opportunity or as a sign that it's time to just stop and get present, instead of having the illness use us? And so I have become an invitation for others to join me in looking from a new perspective, to be self-aware of the thoughts we think that create our entire life experience, and to love and learn and grow and forgive together.  I don't think I can ever go back to a 'regular' job. This expression calls to be expressed, and since I'm so in love with the Lyme community, I have chosen to stay and share the possibilities. :)

Chris:  You're now in remission; the complete opposite of what it is to have chronic Lyme Disease.  I imagine your mind is now surely distracted and filled with the treasures of a life without Lyme.  But are you still able to access this "peace", that which could not be found or attained without the physical and mental state of chronic Lyme Disease, and if so, does it still serve you to this day? 

Jenny:  You cannot unring a bell.  The bells of awareness rang for me.  So now I simply live my life and am more aware of my thoughts, am becoming more aware of the stories I make up and where I am not being responsible for my life experience. So sometimes I can still go into a whining, victim mode, but it just doesn't provide the 'satisfaction' it used to. LOL!  I continue to let go of beliefs and I continue to deepen my awareness. The Lyme community facilitates that frequently because I am asked for support frequently. My commitment is to support people to see the essence of who they are, and to hold that space for them requires me meet them just where they are, to see them for who they are and not the stories of suffering that they think they are. The peacefulness is always there and always has been. I didn't know that before. If I find myself not present to it, there are things I do to support realigning, like walking in the woods, being responsible for my thoughts, listening to or reading teaching from some of my favorite spiritual teachers, meditating etc. But no matter what is going on, it all occurs inside the context of the peaceful essence of who we truly are. There is just allowing it.

Chris:  From the day you started your treatment protocol, to the day you reached remission, what was the duration?

Jenny:  Probably about 13 months.

Chris:  How did you determine you were officially in remission?  Was the transition to remission sudden, or a gradual process?

Jenny:  It was more of a roller coaster ride.  Sometimes feeling extremely ill, sometimes pretty ill, an occasional day of feeling good, then really sick again. In the last month I was ill I started to have this sense that there was no good reason for me to be ill anymore. I was going for energy work and the woman who was working with me asked me what I was afraid of. Took a few weeks to determine that I was actually afraid to be well again. I was afraid of feeling well and then getting sick again - didn't want to deal with the disappointment. I was afraid of what to do with my life because I knew that I was no longer who I had been before. So the future was a giant unknown. Once I distinguished those fears, and saw that they were nothing but a lot of thoughts, I was able to move forward without having that blockage in my way. On January 7th I had my first day of feeling completely normal, and I didn't look back. It felt absolutely miraculous. So I think in the end it wasn't my body that was keeping me ill, it was my mind. Thats' why I 'popped' into wellness.

Chris:  What do you believe to be the single greatest internal strength a person with chronic Lyme Disease can readily exploit at the immediate moment for their own consolation or salvation?

Jenny:  Our greatest power comes from not trying to be powerful, not trying to figure stuff out, not trying to learn more, not trying to be brave...it comes from quietly allowing ourselves to experience our true nature, and it occurs in the gap between words and the pause between actions. You don't have to know or do anything...you simply have to stop and allow. It is as simple as that.

Chris:  What empirical or observable evidence would you say is truly indicative of progressing towards remission?  What are the indications, signs, and changes that a person should look for that can assure them they're on the right road?

Jenny:  It's probably different for everyone. But I would say that you should feel good about what you are doing with regard to the protocols you are following. Also, the moment a person takes responsibility for their well being (not like being to blame or at fault), and embraces their illness, they will begin to feel the shift energetically. Being in an empowered and loving place generates a very expansive energy...expansive energy is healing and forgiving and undemanding.

Chris:  Are there any words of wisdom or advice you can offer to those who are still battling Lyme Disease that feel all hope or chance of a recovery is gone?

Jenny:  What you resist persists. Whatever you are pushing against will remain attached to you. It's the law of attraction. What you focus your attention on you get more of. Taking medications/supplements to get rid of illness has you focused on the illness.  Taking medications/supplements as an act of love towards your body, with the intention of supporting it into health, has you focused on health. Mind your mind. For those who have been ill for a long time it will likely take a long time to fully recover, but recovery is possible. If you believe you will be ill forever, you are not setting yourself up for healing. But more importantly, experiencing the wholeness of who you are and the fulfillment in that experience will dissolve the NEED to be well, and that totally sets you on a path of healing. Sounds contradictory, but it really isn't.

Chris:  Jenny, it was a real honor to speak with you!  I personally thank you for sharing your wisdom on chronic Lyme Disease.  It was a real pleasure!

Jenny:  My pleasure...completely mine.

Additional Interview Information

You can visit Jenny's website Lyme Thriving, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.